A recent reread of Charles Dickens’ enduring opening in his immortal classic ‘A Tale of Two Cities’ – “It was the best of times it was the worst of times” made me think about growing up during those “worst of times” in South Africa. Now living in Israel – a country that is fiendishly and falsely compared to Apartheid it made me realise the following: It is incumbent on those voices of both our ‘Beloved Countries” to cry out and reclaim our unique historical narratives.
One of the many hateful posters on display at the World Conference against Racism in Durban in 2001. Will Durban 2 be a repeat? (Photo from Eye on the UN)
In recent years, particularly since the 2001 World Conference Against Racism in Durban, South Africa – which turned into a festival of hate against Israel and where BDS was conceived – the narratives of both countries have been hijacked by hatemongers operating with sinister goals. The international jurist and former Canadian Minister of Justice. Prof. Irwin Cotler termed the Durban debacle: “The conference against racism that became a racist conference against Jews.” As Cotler explains it: “The clarion call was clear: just as the struggle against racism in the 20th century required the dismantling of South Africa as an apartheid state, so the struggle against racism in the 21st century requires the dismantling of Israel as an apartheid state.” How cunning; how deceptive and how false! It was also a theft of the South African narrative! And South Africans have been allowing this to happen.
Grand Larceny
Primarily, this sinister amalgam known as BDS aims:
They proceed with their nefarious endeavors under the guise of ‘human rights’ while denying the basic human right for the Jewish People – their right of a Jewish homeland in their ancestral land that they were violently expelled from over millennia ago.
BDS do not talk of a ‘Two State Solution’, they pursue a ‘One State Solution’ – and that state is NOT Israel. The BDS leadership is open and clear about it.
I have pondered for a while whether to write this article.
Would it be received in the spirit that it is intended? It is most certainly not an indictment against South Africa in any way. It is my truth; my observations that I am sharing. My relationship with South Africa is complicated and bittersweet. South Africa gave me both roots and wings. It is the country I grew up in, that shaped and educated me and while breathtakingly beautiful, it is also incredible paradoxical. There is extreme wealth and dire poverty, eleven official beautiful languages, every kind of terrain you could imagine from the tropical to the desert, the mountains to the savannah, magnificent wildlife and extraordinary cultures. This is just a small glimpse.
The Capital ‘A’ in Apartheid
I grew up during the Apartheid years and was aware from a very young age that something was not right. The physical magnificence of the country was at odds with its political reality. That 
political reality was one of discrimination, persecution and pain. The minority white community ruled over the majority black population with a set of laws that debased and dehumanized them. These were the Apartheid laws – from the Afrikaans meaning “to separate”. The word Apartheid for the anti-Israel bashers is an expedient tool because its meaning conjures up such universal loathing. Truth be told – they are using stolen goods!
For the true victims of Apartheid, the word is reminiscent of a time of great pain, of being marginalized and discriminated against and deep, deep suffering. This explains why Apartheid is a proper noun with a capital “A”. What horribly occurred on a beautiful landscape was exclusively South African.
South African police forces members patrol the Wits University campus during ongoing clashes with
Apartheid was unique to South Africa.
Why allow these word thieves to exploit the tragic past of South Africa’s Black majority? Doing so diminishes the tremendous crime that Apartheid was and belittles the suffering of her victims.
This brings me to Israel, my home and the target of those who question her right to exist by pushing the Apartheid canard. It must be reiterated that NOT once during its existence under the heinous racist regime was the right of South Africa to exist as a state questioned. This is diabolically reserved for the Jewish state.
Why am I a Zionist? Why did I make the choice to return to Zion and build my home here? It is more than just a deep love of the Jewish people and a belief in returning to and rebuilding our ancient homeland. As Israelis and Zionists, it is our hope that when there are grave misdeeds we do not accept them blindly; we turn inward, we engage in robust discussion and we try to improve. This is the Israel of our sages, our ancestors, Theodore Herzl and it must be so for us.
In South Africa, it was a little-known fact that Zionist youth were educated about the injustices of Apartheid and encouraged to fight against it, despite the incredible dangers we faced. I was a member of a youth movement and if there was any enduring lesson I took from my years of involvement it was to not turn a blind eye to injustice.
I Cannot Stay Silent
Growing up in South Africa taught me to bear witness to injustice and that I cannot stay silent in the face of it.
Reclaiming Our Naratives
To be a silent bystander is to be complicit in the hijacking of narratives of both people and the dissemination of lies. I grew up witnessing the unjust and untrue. I live in a country that fights every day for its very existence and inclusion in the family of nations. The lesson I learn from my two countries – South Africa and Israel – is the importance of speaking up, and I implore all my fellow South Africans who live in Israel and elsewhere, it is time to take back our narratives – both as Israelis and South Africans.
We cannot be silent anymore.
NOW WE WILL NOT BE SILENT !
